I was introduced to Osmo Oils by Guy Ashley who used it on some gates that he was making. I asked him a few details and decided to buy some. It was really good and so I was rather cheeky and contacted Osmo to ask for some samples in order for me to have enough variety for a short video review. The review is now complete...

Most people are aware that I am an absolute Festool fan and now I have discovered another great company.

Festool USA does not pre-approve the contents of this website nor endorse the application or use of any Festool product in any way other than in the manner described in the Festool Instruction Manual. To reduce the risk of serious injury and/or damage to your Festool product, always read, understand and follow all warnings and instructions in your Festool product's Instruction Manual. Although Festool strives for accuracy in the website material, the website may contain inaccuracies. Festool makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness or timeliness of the material on this website or about the results to be obtained from using the website. Festool and its affiliates cannot be responsible for improper postings or your reliance on the website's material. Your use of any material contained on this website is entirely at your own risk. The content contained on this site is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

I am curious how the Osmo products compare to the Surfix oils. They seem similar in a number of ways.

I can't answer that question yet...

I have seen a demo of the Surfix system and I was very impressed with the 'system' part in that it appeared to be so easy to use, store and transport. Obviously there are times when one might still need a brush or rag as the Surfix pad might be too awkward. I do have Surfix on my shopping list and will get some straight away if a job with 'Surfix' written on it comes along (I cannot just buy some as all these things have to pay their way). When I get some I will review it.

In the meantime I will continue to use the Osmo Oils - they are excellent and compare well, price wise, with other 'top end' finishes.

Peter:Thanks for your review. I purchased some Osmo oil for my outdoor teak furniture. I am getting tired of sanding and refinishing/coating after only one spring summer. I also picked up some hard wax finish to try on some projects.Tim

There is a big project around the corner which is currently in negotiation and subject to contract and hence no details, sorry. The project centres on the treatment of solid wood benches (I think that they are oak but they could be Iroko or Idigbo) which are left out in all weathers 365 days a year. There may be a requirement to treat some external oak doors which are all probably nearly 100 years old and still in remarkable condition. The oak doors look as though they have been treated with some varnish at one point.

So HELP chaps and chappesses...

What are the very best Osmo products for the benches and for the oak doors? Please do not make a guess if you have not used a particular product yourself. Also, Osmo is the manufacturer that the client wants after independent research (not me) so no Surfix suggestions!

Woodguy, on the tin it says re coat after about 3-4 years. Though underneath there's a whole section on conditions that could shorten that time e.g.wood is exposed to a lot of sun / water is not able to drain away etc... I think as long as there is no water traps in the design of the Joinery then I think it is ok. I always say to customers re coat after about 5 years.

Been back to houses that I ve done doors or windows for ( mostly in oak and iroko)4 plus years later and the finish still looks pretty tidy, without any re coats.I used to use Danish oil but over time come to the conclusion that it is not suitable for exterior finishing. I needs re coating every year to keep it workin rightOsmo is pricey but in the long run I think it's a more economical way to finish exterior wood

Jmb, talkin of it staying tacky that is only downside of osmo. I made some iroko french doors about a month ago, coated them up in the work shop and they were still tacky 3 weeks later. . Took them outside for a day a and they dryed straight away. I suppose it's to do with the air getting to it.

Jmb, talkin of it staying tacky that is only downside of osmo. I made some iroko french doors about a month ago, coated them up in the work shop and they were still tacky 3 weeks later. . Took them outside for a day a and they dryed straight away. I suppose it's to do with the air getting to it.

No it stays tacky for weeks OUTSIDE and wont accept a second coat. I coated cedar shingles and I went onto the roof and slid right back down! To my surprise the Osmo was still sticky and slippery on foot. My mate made a Porch out of Cedar he coated it in Osmo 2 weeks later he came back and it was still tacky. So lesson one LEAVE cedar to weather or any other exotic wood well thats what ive learned from using osmo on Cedar to soon lol

Wow that is odd. Maybe it's got something to do with the cedar already having preservative oil occurring naturally in the wood. This might be affecting the drying process of the osmo.Just shows ya how much trial and error there is in wood finishing. That's handy to know about cedar though.

Wow that is odd. Maybe it's got something to do with the cedar already having preservative oil occurring naturally in the wood. This might be affecting the drying process of the osmo.Just shows ya how much trial and error there is in wood finishing. That's handy to know about cedar though.

Yeah it is. I didn't know at the time but applying a finish to cedar is a lot easier if you leave it to weather for a a bit about 6 months or so, so it starts to turn grey then when you treat it it brings the colour back up like brand new. Live and learn!

Wow that is odd. Maybe it's got something to do with the cedar already having preservative oil occurring naturally in the wood. This might be affecting the drying process of the osmo.Just shows ya how much trial and error there is in wood finishing. That's handy to know about cedar though.

JMBn - don/'t you wipe the oil off of wood surface to "dry" in 30-60 minutes?

Wow that is odd. Maybe it's got something to do with the cedar already having preservative oil occurring naturally in the wood. This might be affecting the drying process of the osmo.Just shows ya how much trial and error there is in wood finishing. That's handy to know about cedar though.

JMBn - don/'t you wipe the oil off of wood surface to "dry" in 30-60 minutes?

The OsmoMost of the oils I use suggest wiping off all the wet excess after a period of time.

Once, when I was putting together a small deck, I waited too long to wipe off the oil, and the surface oil never cured - it was slick when I got back to it, and always tacky later. (Thank goodness that was the back of the boards!)

I've never used Osmo's exterior oil; when I've used their interior oil, I apply nearly "Dru" at the beginning, and still buff the excess within the hour.

Pretty sure osmo doesn't say to wipe it down. Just says use a brush roller or cloth to apply.

Not got a tin on me so can't check.

I never had a problem with Oak which is what I normally use osmo for or sheet material. (Birch ply, oak veneer)

The problem only came up when applied on cedar. I asked the dealer and they said osmo supply one for use on cedar but he said its basically normal osmo watered down. He said you use that if you want to treat cedar straight away but said best is to leave it to weather.

We redid our oak floors with Osmo's Polyx hard wax oil about 3 years ago. Still looks amazing, minimal scratches, and no peeling, which is remarkable considering the movement of our floors (humidity goes from 20%-80% winter to summer.) Dead easy to apply and it doesn't stink, and it can be repaired.

Pretty sure osmo doesn't say to wipe it down. Just says use a brush roller or cloth to apply.

Not got a tin on me so can't check.

I never had a problem with Oak which is what I normally use osmo for or sheet material. (Birch ply, oak veneer)

The problem only came up when applied on cedar. I asked the dealer and they said osmo supply one for use on cedar but he said its basically normal osmo watered down. He said you use that if you want to treat cedar straight away but said best is to leave it to weather.

Jmb

JMB is right - there is no need to wipe off the excess. The instructions say that there is no need to sand between coats and apply with a brush, roller or rag.

For the interior products I do sometimes follow a routine similar to that of Surfix in that I give a very light sand between coats (240 grit or a green vlie) and then use a cloth to remove the excess of the second coat. It looks great.

My experience with osmo oil is to wipe off the excess. I did a walnut wardrobe & never wiped it off but it never really dried. The next one I did I wiped it & wow, what an excellent Finnish ! It don't say it on the tin but I always wipe the excess now.

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If its made of wood, i can make it smaller.Shirt size mediump.s- ive started reading these too

I have been using, selling and talking/trouble shooting OSMO jobs in the US for 5 years now and the worst think you can do is over-apply. Two thin coats only and if there is oil left on top after a few minutes - WIPE IT OFF!!!. I also see a few mentions in this thread for outdoor use. I use the UV 410 clear most of the time but if applicable, I will add up to 10% of a specific color "One Coat HS" to get added UV protection. Clear UV is only so good from any manufacturer and anytime I can get some pigment in the mix I get better protection form the sun.

OSMO makes a great tool "Double Blade Scraper" for horizontal surface application. Full proof, not expensive, easy to clean and will last for years and years - unlike a brush.

- Work into the wood; do not paint on the surface. - Remove excess finish from surface while still wet.

This aligns with advice from other sources to work in the oil with a white scrubby (I'm going to try white Vlies on my RO150) and then wipe it off. If anyone is interested, I'll post the results in a few days.

- Work into the wood; do not paint on the surface. - Remove excess finish from surface while still wet.

This aligns with advice from other sources to work in the oil with a white scrubby (I'm going to try white Vlies on my RO150) and then wipe it off. If anyone is interested, I'll post the results in a few days.

Regards,

Dan.

Thanks Dan, looking forward to some pictures and more thoughts when using Osmo oils.

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Not as many Sanders as PA Floor guy.....

Festool USA does not pre-approve the contents of this website nor endorse the application or use of any Festool product in any way other than in the manner described in the Festool Instruction Manual. To reduce the risk of serious injury and/or damage to your Festool product, always read, understand and follow all warnings and instructions in your Festool product's Instruction Manual. Although Festool strives for accuracy in the website material, the website may contain inaccuracies. Festool makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness or timeliness of the material on this website or about the results to be obtained from using the website. Festool and its affiliates cannot be responsible for improper postings or your reliance on the website's material. Your use of any material contained on this website is entirely at your own risk. The content contained on this site is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

I have made a video about PolyX and do encourage people to wipe off the excess. I have found that several thin (wiped off) coats produce the best results.

Here is the PolyX video:

Peter

Very nice Peter. Thanks for sharing that. How long have you had the desk in use? How is the Osmo oil finish holding up for you[ wine spills included.. ] I think it's funny for me about Oil Finishes. I started with them when I was just getting into Woodworking, had some feeble success but was lured away by other finishes. And now, I'm back to researching them all over again and learning lots of great technique that I missed out on all those years ago. I also think that there's been a large uptick of Consumer interest in Oil finishes in the past 5 years. I find more people asking me about them than in the past.

Very nice Peter. Thanks for sharing that. How long have you had the desk in use? How is the Osmo oil finish holding up for you[ wine spills included.. ] I think it's funny for me about Oil Finishes. I started with them when I was just getting into Woodworking, had some feeble success but was lured away by other finishes. And now, I'm back to researching them all over again and learning lots of great technique that I missed out on all those years ago. I also think that there's been a large uptick of Consumer interest in Oil finishes in the past 5 years. I find more people asking me about them than in the past.

I think the desk has been in use for 18 months or so - it looks as good as it did at the beginning. The same is true of a set of side tables that really do get abused - including plenty of red wine when I am not careful.

I used to teach French polishing and that has influenced my usage of PolyX - thin coats wiped off, let it dry and then another thin coat.

I think that oils have become popular because of the great improvements and range of products. Osmo have brought out an new version of PolyX with a slight glossy finish. I will be testing it soon and may use it on the walnut pedestal desk that I am making.

I have 3 or 4 videos on YouTube describing the desk construction and have another 2 or 3 to go.

I posted the other day how much I use to love Osmo but after using it for 8 years or so now and found it doesn't stand the test of time I have come to dislike the product.

I bring this up again because oddly my mate came up to me randomly said how he thinks osmo is crap. I asked why and like me he has used it for many years and has gone back to jobs to find the product hasn't lasted. He even said one client applied osmo every year to his door once my mate fitted it and it still went grey and mouldy.

He spoke to a painter and the painter has said he's stopped using it because the product doesn't last.

Like I said before I have and seen many floors applied with osmo which after a year have worn off.

Yet I have used other products which have lasted much much longer.

Now my mate contacted osmo and they said you should use a osmo primer.

Now either osmo dont give proper instructions with their product or their products are just rubbish.

I have been using Osmo for 2 years on Guy Ashley's recommendation. I have had no problems with any of it but will follow the manufacturer's directions when it comes to a maintenance coat. The outdoor oils are a great improvement on everything that I have tried over the last 40 years. Also, I no longer use polyurethane on anything. I will also avoid French polishing from now on as I think that the new PolyX Gloss is going to give a far more durable finish.

Does anyone else have some thoughts on Osmo vs surfix? I'm making some outdoor furniture out of cedar and cypress and considering trying either the outdoor surfix or Osmo 410. A small perk for me with the surfix would be getting the other finishes in the kit to try on some other projects.

Does anyone else have some thoughts on Osmo vs surfix? I'm making some outdoor furniture out of cedar and cypress and considering trying either the outdoor surfix or Osmo 410. A small perk for me with the surfix would be getting the other finishes in the kit to try on some other projects.

I'm still not sure if Surfix isn't actually Osmo Oil rebranded for Festool. But, I have used Surfix Outdoor Oil and while it doesn't have any longer life for UV protection over other Oils rated for Outdoors, it does seem to prevent Black Mildew or Mold discoloration over some other products that I've used in the past. And I'm in a fairly Northern Climate, if you have more Sun, you may need to reapply it or Osmo Oils more often if the UV degrading is more severe for your area. Once a year to twice a year was what I was experiencing depending on how much Sun my outdoor stuff was getting. Rain didn't seem to be a factor, which was nice since I DID have Black Mildew with other oils in the past. Supposedly, Tung Oil products aren't as liable for that Mildew Discoloration compared to Linseed Oil products, but a lot has to do with the additive packages put into an Oil mix. That makes a big difference compared to a 'raw' oil applied with nothing more than a solvent to help penetrate the wood surface.